Short answer: what should you ask first?
When you choose an ERP vendor in Izmir, ask about evidence first, then the schedule, then support, and only then total cost. Neither a price list nor a polished demo should change that order: ERP projects tend to go wrong because of how the project is run, not because of the software itself.
According to Panorama Consulting's ERP implementation outcomes study, published on 4 March 2026, more than a quarter of organizations exceeded their project budget, and additional technology needs were named as the main cause. Prosci, a change management consultancy, writes in a post based on its 2025 research that organizations put 92% of their ERP budget into technology, while human factors were found to matter 6x more than technical factors in improving ERP benefits. That second figure is a count of recommendations, not a causal measurement, but it is a useful reminder that the budget should not all go to software.
The 12 questions below fall into four groups: references, implementation method, support, and cost and contract. At the end we put the same questions into one table with weights and scores, so you can compare three offers side by side.
A software company publishes this article. We kept the questions neutral: whichever vendor you ask, the quality of the answer leads you to the same place. You are welcome to ask us too.
Industry experience and reference questions
1. Have you completed a project of a similar size in a similar industry?
"We have many customers" is not evidence. Ask: how many users, which modules, and how long did it take to go live? If you manufacture, export, run logistics or wholesale in Izmir and the Aegean, a project that resembles your stock and shipping flow tells you more than an industry name does.
2. Can I speak to reference customers directly?
Ask to speak to at least two or three references of a similar size. If the vendor will not provide any, ask why. A non-disclosure agreement can be a valid reason, but even then a customer with permission should be able to talk to you. In the call, skip "are you satisfied?" and ask "what happened in the first three months after go-live?"
3. What was the hardest problem in a project, and how did you solve it?
No project is problem-free. A team that can describe a concrete problem, the fix and the lesson has real experience. An answer that cannot name a problem, or blames outside factors every time, suggests you will meet the same surprises in your project.
Implementation method and project schedule questions
4. Will you give the project plan, milestones and team in writing?
The offer should list milestones per module, the acceptance criteria for each stage and who works in which role. Ask whether the team will stay the same through the project: if the senior person in the meeting is not the person doing the work, you should know that from the start.
5. How do you handle data migration and cleanup?
Customer records, stock codes and opening balances take the most time in many projects. Ask who prepares the data, in which format it is collected and how it is validated. Whether data cleanup is included in the offer should also be in writing; it is often left out.
6. What is your training and adoption plan?
The practical consequence of the Prosci finding above is that training and change management belong in the plan as much as the technical setup. Ask who will be trained, how many sessions, where, and who will be reachable for questions afterwards. Our recommendation is to run a small pilot with your own data and a small group of users before go-live; trying real data shows far more than a demo screen.
Support, SLA and on-site service questions
7. Do you give post-go-live support terms and response and resolution times in writing?
Instead of a generic "24/7 support", ask for: support hours, first response time, resolution target and what happens when a target is missed. All of it belongs in an SLA attached to the contract. Also ask whether intensive support for the first weeks after go-live (often called hypercare) is planned separately.
8. Who provides on-site support in Izmir, and how quickly can they arrive?
There is no proven answer to "local vendor or national brand?"; each side writes about its own advantages. So look at contract terms rather than brand: the right to on-site visits, how fast a visit happens and whether the fee is included in the offer. Decide for your own business whether remote support is enough or whether you need on-site help at a warehouse or production line.
9. Is e-invoicing and compliance included in the license, and how fast do you ship updates?
Ask which e-Invoice, e-Archive, e-Waybill and e-Ledger modules are in the base license and which cost extra. Rules and technical guides keep changing: the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB) updated its e-Archive Technical Guide (V.1.20) and the e-Archive Package on 5 November 2026. Ask how quickly the vendor reflects such updates in the software and whether that is covered by the maintenance fee. Confirm with your accountant which obligations apply to you; this article is not financial or legal advice.
Cost and contract questions
10. What are the cost items, and how do you calculate the 5-year cost?
Ask for more than the license or subscription fee: setup and customization, integration, data migration, training, annual maintenance and support, and infrastructure or hosting. According to a TechTarget article by James Kofalt dated 6 May 2026, annual maintenance on on-premises installations is typically 15-22% of the list price, implementation can reach 2-3 times the license cost in some projects, and the author suggests setting aside a 15-20% contingency. These are not Turkey-specific numbers, but they show why offers should be compared over a 5-10 year horizon.
11. How are customization and extra requests priced?
The "additional needs" Panorama names as a cause of budget overruns appear right here. When an out-of-scope request comes in, is it a unit price, an hourly rate or a new offer? Decide together whether adapting the standard product or building something separate makes more sense. We covered the balance between a ready-made product and a custom build in our off-the-shelf vs custom software decision matrix; if you have a process the ERP's standard structure cannot hold, custom software development should be on the table too.
12. How does the contract handle data ownership, export and exit terms?
This is the question least asked in offers and most important years later. Ask for: confirmation that you own the data, the right to take your data in a standard format when the contract ends, what access you have to source code or customizations, and whether the exit process carries extra fees. For cloud (subscription) solutions, also ask where the data is kept: data held with a provider abroad can count as a cross-border transfer under Turkish data protection law (KVKK), and sub-processors fall under the same rules. The KVKK page on standard contracts is a starting point; consult your legal adviser for a definite assessment.
12-question scoring table
Ask every vendor the same questions, score each answer from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong) and multiply by the weight. The weights are the author's suggestion and add up to 100; change them to match your priorities. For example, if e-commerce integration is critical for you, raise the weights for questions 9 and 11.
| # | Question | Suggested weight | Score (1-5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Completed project of similar size and industry | 8 | ☐ |
| 2 | Direct conversation with a reference customer | 8 | ☐ |
| 3 | Hardest problem and its solution | 5 | ☐ |
| 4 | Written plan, milestones and team | 10 | ☐ |
| 5 | Data migration and cleanup | 10 | ☐ |
| 6 | Training and adoption plan | 6 | ☐ |
| 7 | Written SLA and response times | 10 | ☐ |
| 8 | On-site support terms in Izmir | 6 | ☐ |
| 9 | e-invoicing compliance and update speed | 10 | ☐ |
| 10 | 5-year total cost | 10 | ☐ |
| 11 | Pricing of customization and extra requests | 8 | ☐ |
| 12 | Data ownership and exit terms | 9 | ☐ |
Besides the total score, set a "red line": for example, a vendor that gives no written SLA or cannot provide references is out, whatever its score.
Frequently asked questions
How many months does an ERP implementation take in Izmir?
We could not find reliable published data on implementation time specific to Izmir. Time depends on the number of modules, the number of users, data quality and scope. The sound approach is to ask for milestones per module in writing and to start with a small pilot instead of moving the whole company at once.
Should you choose a local vendor or a national brand?
There is no proven general answer. A local vendor's advantage may be on-site support, a national brand's may be a wider reference network; either one only counts when it is written into the contract. Use the reference call, the written SLA and the on-site visit terms as your decision criteria.
How do you verify an ERP reference?
Speak to two or three customers of a similar size yourself. Ask "what happened in the first three months after go-live?" and "what was the hardest problem?" If the vendor steers you only to customers it picked, do not rely on a single reference.
What is the most common mistake in an ERP project?
There is no single answer, but the sources agree on two points. Panorama Consulting's 2026 study names additional technology needs as the main cause of budget overruns: if the scope is not clear at the start, cost grows. Prosci argues that most of the budget goes to technology while training and change management decide the benefit. The shared lesson is to plan scope and user adoption together with the technical setup.
To discuss your questions or an offer comparison, get in touch.
Sources: Panorama Consulting, 2026 ERP implementation outcomes press release (4 March 2026), How to calculate the total cost of ownership of ERP software (TechTarget, 6 May 2026), ERP project management and implementation success (Prosci), e-Archive Technical Guide and Package update announcement (GİB e-Belge, 5 November 2026), Standard contracts (KVKK)
Cover photo: Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash